John s



(No Model.)

. J. S. METOALP. ELEVATOR BUILDING CONSTRUCTION.

N0. 422,029. Patented Feb. 25, 1890.

N4 PETER$ Phclolilhagnphcr. Washington. llC.

UNITED STATES ATENT CEEICE.

J GEN S. METCALF, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO THE METCALF-MACDONALD COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

ELEVATOR-BUILDING CONSTRUCTION.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 422,029, dated February25, 1890.

Application filed September 30, 1889 Serial No. 325,530. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern."

Be it known that I, J OHN S. METOALF, of Chicago, in the county of Cookand State of Illinois, have invented certain new and usef ulImprovements in Elevator-Building Construction, of which the followingis a clear, full, and exact description, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in whichFigure 1 is a side elevation of a portion of an elevator-buildingembodying; the features of my invention. Fig. 2 is a like view showing amodification of said invention. Fig. 3 is a like view showing one formof the old construction and illustrating its defects. Fig. 4 is anotherform of an old construction, likewise illustrating its defects; and Fig.5 is a detail view showing a further modification of my invention.

Like letters of reference in the different figures indicate like parts.

In the construction of elevators it is customary to use planks laidhorizontally and flatly upon each other and spiked together to form thewalls, in order to resist lateral pressure; but as the planks when laidin this way will not bear a Vertical load it is essential that thetimbers upon which they are placed should be relieved from the directstrain thereon of the planking, as the sagging of the latter tends tobreak said timbers midway between their points of support or thevertical posts upon which they rest.

The object of my invention is to relieve said timbers from undue strainand preserve them in proper alignment, thereby in turn preventing theupright supports from .being deflected from a vertical position, all ofwhich is hereinafter more particularly described, and definitely pointedout in the claims.

Referring to the drawings, A represents the usual supporting-postsemployed in elevatorbuildings. Directly upon the top of said posts Ipreferably place the usual corbels 13, Figs. 1 and 3, upon which in turnis laid the plate-beam 0, though said plate-beam may rest directly uponthe posts, as shown in Fig. 2, without varying the principle of myinvention.

The (BIQVELtOYWtil is composed of planks D,

laid flatwise upon each other and spiked together. As a wall when formedin this man ner invariably sags between the vertical posts, asrepresented in Figs. 3 and 4, the plate-beams C are thereby broken, asshown, and an undue load being thrown upon the oblique braces E, theposts A are pushed laterally thereby and either bent or thrown out atthe bottom or top-usually the formen-thus endangering the building.

In order to relieve the plate-beam from undue strain at or near themiddle, and thus retain it in its normal position, I leave an open spaceF between theplanking and said beam, preferably of about half the lengthof the beam. This is accomplished by arranging short planks d (1 abovethe posts and placing asupplemental beam G, Fig. 1, thereon, so as tobridge the space F, or by simply cutting away one or more planks abovethe middle of the beam. I prefer the former construction, as it costs nomore, presents a better appearance, and is therefore more desirable; butin case the latter is used and more than one plank is cut away Irecommend that the several planks be made to overlap each other, asshown at (Z d, Fig. 2, though safety of the I have obtained good resultsby simply removing one plank, as shown in Fig. 5, so as to permit thoseabove to sag, as shown. When a number of planks are cut away and theends overlapped, the result is obviously the same as that of a broken orrough arch in'a brick wall when the bricks successively overlap eachothera By cutting away the space F above the plate-beam I have found inactual practice .that a much greater load may be placed within thebuilding than under the old construction without in any way deflectingthe plate-beams C or supports A, and where the plate-beams have alreadybegun to yield to a given load I have, by cutting away the planking andforming a space F, so relieved the plate beam as to permit a muchgreater load to be placed. in the elevator without any in juriousresults.

By means of myimprovement I have found in practice that the cost ofelevator construe IOO tion may be greatly lessened, as the timbersemployed may be lighter.

Having thus described my invention, I claimlflhe combination, in anelevator-buildin g, of vertical sup porting-posts, a plate-beam, a plankwall, and an oblong space between the said wall and the plate-bcammidway between the supporting-posts, substantially as shown anddescribed.

2. The combination, in an elevator-buildin g, of verticalsupporting-posts, a plate-beam, a plank wallsnpported upon saidplate-beam,

- an oblong space between said wall and platebeam. midway between thesupporting-posts, and a supplemental beam built in the wall for bridgingsaid oblong space, snbstantially as shown and described.

specification, in the presence of two subscribing witnesses, this 12thday of September, 1889.

JOHN S. METOALF.

\Vitnessesz.

D. H. FLETCHER, J. HALPENNY.

